Niger
Doualaga, 1999
African Savannah
When the summer rains come to the Sahel the countryside explodes in green as if vital energy had been building up throughout the preceding eight months of drought. As it is enveloped in green, the village of Doualaga (“the place God is on”), on the road to Dosso, in Niger’s southwestern, Zarma-speaking region, assumes an idyllic, almost storybook appearance. A few months later, except for the trees, the prevailing color of this scene will be brown.
During my three years in Niger I traveled this road several times, stopping to visit Volunteers in the nearby villages of Fabirdji, Belande, Tonkassare, and Falmey. Such visits by the Ambassador were one way of demonstrating to Nigerien officials the importance the U.S. government attached to the Peace Corps presence. Though there were no Volunteers in Doualaga, its quiet beauty made it hard to pass by without stopping for photos along the way.
Charles Cecil, U.S. Ambassador to Niger, 1996-99.
Now Foreign Service Examiner, freelance photographer and writer,
Alexandria, VA.